Go and Make Disciples

The Solemnity of the Holy Trinity celebrates the community—the intense love relationship that exists between the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. That same intense and enduring love is given and remains present in each of us from the time of our Baptism. Remember the words, “I baptize you in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.” Remember!

That same love is not intended only to dwell within us. That love is meant to be shared in the same intricately connected way that the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit share as a community. The Trinity is always about relationship; it is always communitarian.

This Sunday we celebrate our being co-missioned by Jesus. We call it the Great Commission. We also celebrate the power and the presence of the Trinity in our lives. Jesus has given us the Great Commission to go and make disciples of all nations. To help us to do that,  Jesus has promised to be with us always. In other words, we share in God’s own life. And we are to share that life with one another—everywhere, always, with everyone! Making disciples is now OUR mission!

Will we go? To whom will we go?

The Pentecost Event

Wind and Fire—not the name of a musical group, but the elements that most often describe the Pentecost event, the birthday of the Church. Listen to the ways these words are used in the Mass this weekend!

The power of the Holy Spirit created unity out of the chaos that followed Jesus’ Ascension. The Holy Spirit brought miraculous unity to people very divided, and filled with fear. We need the Holy Spirit in our world today. We need the Holy Spirit in our marriages, in our families, in our Church as well as in our personal lives.

We too are divided and filled with fear. Think about how much we hear about divisions and fear.

What would happen if instead of division and fear, we focused on unity and hope, on community and love? Jesus came to bring peace. After all, Jesus told us to not be afraid countless times in the Scriptures.

Will we invite the Holy Spirit to work in us as individuals, as families, and as communities to renew us, refresh our souls, dispel the fear and create in us hearts that are filled with zeal for living the Gospel?

Perhaps we can embrace the reminders that the Church gives us in the celebration this weekend. Wear red. Find ways to enjoy the playfulness of wind and air. Blowing bubbles, flying a kite, playing with pinwheels aren’t activities reserved for children, although their delight increases ours! Breathe intentionally with a focus on breathing in God’s goodness and breathing out all that separates us from that goodness. Eat red foods, drink red wine! Learn to say Peace and or Love in multiple languages. Speak love languages to replace criticism, gossip, and complaining. The words we use create our reality. What kind of reality are we seeking?

And so we pray from the prayer for the V Encuentro: “May the fire of your Word rekindle our hearts and prepare us to become missionary disciples ready to share the joy of the Gospel to present and future generations of every race, culture, and language.”

Fill our hearts and minds, Holy Spirit! Dwell in us all. Move us to action that creates unity out of chaos.

Taking Charge

“Why are you standing there looking at the sky?”

What do you do after spending precious, quality time with the persons you admire most in life, who have accompanied you and taught you incredible things about what it means to be family, community?

That’s what it was like for the followers of Jesus when he ascended from their midst. Suddenly, they were left in charge. I’m reminded of the countless time that I have heard, “Don’t just stand there, do something.” Usually, it’s when someone is in trouble and no one seems to know what to do.

What must it have felt like to be left in charge? Jesus told his followers to proclaim the Good News to every creature. And he told them to expect to see the signs—the healing of the sick, the casting out of demons, and speaking in tongues. Were these intended for that time only? Jesus is clear about that. He says “Go into the whole world and proclaim the gospel to every creature.” And Mark, the evangelist, tells us that they went forth and preached everywhere. The Lord continued to work with and through them to accomplish the signs–demons driven out, new languages spoken, incredible healings.

How do we keep from standing there looking at the sky? At every Mass, we are sent forth on mission. Go forth and live the Gospel! Go forth and spread the Good News! Preach always, with your lives!

The Eucharist empowers us, strengthens us for the task, puts us on fire for the mission. After being fed in mind, body, and spirit by the Eucharistic celebration, we SING our way out of the church. The words to our recessional remind us, prod us and keep us from just standing there. We go out with the strength of our community as disciples of Jesus.

Complete Joy and Love

We are an Easter people! Just a reminder that six weeks after Easter, we are still celebrating with joy. The psalm we pray this weekend reminds us “Sing joyfully to the Lord, all you lands; break into song; sing praise.”

As Easter people, what are we singing about? Where is our joy? What are we joyful about?

In John’s Gospel, Jesus says: “I have told you this so that my joy may be in you and your joy might be complete. This is my commandment: love one another as I love you.” Complete joy comes from loving one another the way Jesus would!

In our day, it is quite a challenge to truly love those who are different from us. The differences include people who look different, who come from another culture or country, or hold different political or religious beliefs. In our day, almost everything around us fuels that divisiveness. It becomes harder and harder to see what we have in common, to love as Jesus did.

So we pray to God to help us to love one another with God’s heart of love and forgiveness. And we also ACT! We make efforts to know the “other” in our world. One way to do that is to spend time with someone of another culture, race or economic status. Sharing conversation and work promotes peace, understanding and the love Jesus commands. Fr. Greg Boyle of Homeboy Industries says we should quit looking at differences and start identifying “samenesses.”

It isn’t easy to love everyone. Yet the challenge remains. The command remains. Our friendship and relationship with God depend on it. When we sing “We Belong to You” we recognize the love relationship between God and the Christian community. That is the same kind of genuine and self-giving love Jesus lived.

Just as in last week’s Gospel of the vine and the branches, we are chosen by God and appointed to go and bear fruit that will remain. Love endures. Love remains if we work for it. If we work for it, we tear down walls, we walk across the bridge to the world of the other, we enter the unknown and that which we fear. We cross boundaries that are holding us back from the love that completes our joy.

Prune Away

Vines and branches! Pruning and grafting! Producing fruit! All of these images are dynamic, ever changing, ever birthing new possibilities.

So when Jesus says, “I am the vine, you are the branches,” what does that mean for us? What does it mean for us as individuals in our faith community, our parish? What does it mean for us as a parish? How are we connected? Where do we belong? How do we grow? What fruit do we bear?

Much of new growth comes about through a process of pruning, of cutting back and making room for the new. What is it that needs pruning in my life? What do I need to cut off or cut back in order to be more connected to God? What in my life is unhealthy or even spiritually toxic that keeps me from being the person that God intends for me to be? It could be whatever keeps me from praying, from celebrating sacraments, from active involvement with my community in the parish. It could be all the things and activities in my life that occupy so much of my time that I neglect my spouse, my family, and even care of myself.

The vine and the branches are all about belonging, about connection, about growth. Sometimes just cutting back the old, tired growth isn’t enough. We need to find “healthy, vibrant” growth and GRAFT it. Where do I find opportunities to spruce up my spiritual life? Could it be a retreat? Joining an SCC? Participating in Adult Faith Formation or a Bible Study? Becoming a sponsor for RCIA?

Growth is about change. At times some of our old practices are no longer useful and we need to update. Some of the people who have served in our church with great love and faithfulness yearn for replacements in their ministries. They are ready to make room for new participants, new leaders, new ways of doing things.

In all of life, we would do well to consider what needs to be pruned, what needs to change. Can we honestly say to God, prune away?  What do we need to stop doing in order to make room for the new? What is the fruit we are expecting from the new growth? Do we trust God enough to yield wholeheartedly to what must die in us in order for us to enjoy new life and to bear good fruit?

The Vulnerable Sheep

Why is Jesus walking around with a sheep cradled between his neck and back? I’ve always been curious about this depiction. I am more used to Jesus cradling a small sheep in his lap, a very loving, cuddly kind of cradling a baby lamb. Most of us probably prefer that image. Meanwhile, I am stuck on this image and my neck hurts just thinking about that sheep making me uncomfortable. I can barely stand a collar around my neck!

And then there are Pope Francis’ words reminding us that any good shepherd should “smell like the sheep.” Another discomfort! I know what cows and pigs smell like. I must admit sheep smells have not been in my experience!

And then I remember a reflection once offered by a wise Sister companion of mine. She said that a shepherd often can spot the sheep that is going to be the “ring leader for mischief” or the recalcitrant one. This is the sheep that will start a revolt, or at least cause great consternation and suffering for the shepherd and the rest of the sheep.

That same shepherd who can identify the one needing attention,  also knows from experience what the sheep needs in order to “hear the voice” of the shepherd. Sometimes we have a hard time recognizing the voice of someone who wishes us well, while challenging us to be all that God wants us to be.

In order to recognize the voice, the sheep must be close, must be carried, must become dependent on the shepherd. In order to accomplish that the shepherd breaks a leg of the sheep and begins to carry it. The sheep becomes vulnerable.

Perhaps we also need the Good Shepherd to carry us in our vulnerability. All of us experience some kind of “brokenness.” Some heals readily. Others need God’s attention. Jesus reminds us of God’s love and care for us, even when the suffering is intolerable. And for us, following Jesus means that we must stand with, we must act for the good of all, especially those in most need, the most vulnerable among us.

Who are the shepherds in your life? Who is leading, guiding, protecting and nurturing you? How do hurt and suffering contribute to our capacity to hear God’s voice in the midst of it?